How to Name your Movies for PSP Compatibility

If you are trying to convert a video using 99bytes Video to PSP/iPod Converter, you might want to learn about the kind of names you can give to movies so that they are playable on a PSP. For some general information about this, see the first section below; if you want to find out about the options available in 99bytes Video to PSP/iPod Converter, you may skip to the second section.

General Information about PSP Names

Older PSP devices (before firmware 2.80, see How to Find out what Firmware is Your Sony PSP Running), have a strict movie naming convention: the movie files must be be named using the pattern M4V######.MP4, where ###### represents numbers from 000001 to 999999. Example of valid names could be: M4V000002.MP4, M4V005678.MP4 and so on; notice that if you use small numbers you need to add zeros to fill the pattern (one digit for each #).

After the file has been given this name, it must be copied in the \MP_ROOT\100MNV01 folder (or \MP_ROOT\101MNV01) on the PSP device. The movie must be converted using the settings for older PSP devices.

If the movie does not respect this conventions, the PSP device will not play it.

Newer PSP devices (firmware 2.80 or higher) are more tolerant to naming: any file name will do, as long as the movie extension is .MP4 Example of valid names could be: Journey.mp4, Dance video.mp4, and so on. The movie must be converted using the settings for newer PSP's, so it will be in a different format than the old clips.

Unlike the older PSP's, the files must be copied in the \VIDEO folder on the PSP device. If they are saved in the old folders, the PSP will not play them.

Newer PSP devices still support movies in the old format, but they must respect the old naming convention (M4V######.MP4) and must be saved in the old folders (\MP_ROOT\100MNV01 or \MP_ROOT\101MNV01).

Older PSP devices do not support movies in the new format at all.

Using 99bytes Video to PSP/iPod Converter

99bytes Video to PSP/iPod Converter supports converting for both older and newer PSP devices. If you'd like some help on deciding which output option will be optimal for the devices you have, you could read this article: How to Decide on Output Compatibility with iPod or PSP.

When converting for older PSP devices, select "iPod and Older PSPs" in the Compatibility dropdown and the application will automatically generates PSP compatible names, so you don't have to worry about this. These names are hard to read or remember, but we save the original file title inside the movie, so once you've copied it on the PSP you'll be able to find it quickly.

If for some reason you want the movies to retain their original name, you can disable the automatic name generation for each movie, by selection the movie, clicking the Advanced Settings button, and unchecking the rename option. Note that in this case you will have to manually rename the files before they are playable on the PSP.

When converting for newer PSP devices, select the "iPod and Newer PSPs" option and the program will not change the names of the movies, and will use the new file format.